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Owing to the installation of the Vallotton exhibition on the second floor of the Moser building, the holdings normally displayed there have had to be temporarily moved. The pieces concerned are by Gustave Courbet, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. A striking presentation featuring some of the key works from this collection can now be seen on the first floor of the building next to the gallery containing the Arnold Böcklin paintings.

Conceptually, they reflect more sombre phases in 19th-century French art: Realism (Courbet) and the early stages of Impressionism (Manet; the early Monet). Degas complements them very well: in contrast to classical Impressionist doctrine, even to the very end he rarely worked outside the studio and in full daylight. In addition to a central, long-term loan from a private collection, a further Degas of quite exceptional quality from another collection has also been included. This is nothing less than a minor sensation, for the painting concerned is the masterful ‘Ludovic Lepic and His Daughters’ (around 1871) from the holdings of the Foundation Bührle Collection. This work was one of two that resurfaced last year after being stolen back in 2008. As the painting had been significantly damaged, it was restored at the Kunsthaus and can now be seen once again in very good condition. Documentation produced in association with the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection contains details of the restoration, during which a dark varnish was also removed.